The faff of the launch season is finally over, and soon Formula 1 will get down to the business of getting cars on track for some real action.
But with the countdown still reading 16 days until the first grand prix of the year, there’s still time to analyse in a very serious way who won the battle of the brands when it comes to car launches for 2023.
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RED BULL RACING RB19
Livery: ★★★★☆
Sincerity: ☆☆☆☆☆
Year after year fans yearn for something novel or exciting for F1’s self-proclaimed disrupter, but after nearly two decades in the sport and 11 championships, the Red Bull Racing livery surely qualifies for its own heritage overlay by now. Why fix what isn’t broken.
Where the team loses considerable points is for hyping a 2023 car launch that failed to feature a 2023 car. Instead fans were treated to an hours-long presentation of sponsor speeches and Red Bull-backed sports stars before a 2022 demo car was revealed with a barely tweaked paint job, with team boss Christian Horner venturing disingenuously that, “I think the car that we’ve shown today will be somewhat different when you see it in Bahrain”.
Yeah, we bet.
Don’t say: Don’t be fooled, she‘s just a regular Malibu Stacy with a slightly revised livery.
Do say: But she’s got a slightly revised livery.
FERRARI SF-23
Livery: ★★★★★
Unbridled enthusiasm: ★★★★★
‘It’s Ferrari, it’s red’ — yes, but that’s the whole point. This is rosso corsa — literally racing red — and you don’t mess with the classics. Would a Ferrari in any other colour, with any other paint scheme, still really be a Ferrari?
And what more could you want from the launch of the Italian national motorsport team? It started with a violin rendition of the anthem. It was conducted in front of the team’s famously raucous fans. It featured a real car doing real laps.
The excitement was palpable. Too bad Ferrari so rarely converts that excitement into success. But still, it’s nice to see they’re really trying.
Don’t say: Mattia Binotto.
Do say: Both drivers will definitely have equal treatment for the duration of the campaign.
MERCEDES W14
Livery: N/A
Economy: ★★★☆☆
Mercedes kept fans guessing in the lead-up to this week’s car reveal. Would it be painted silver or black? It turns out it was neither: for the most part the car wasn’t painted at all.
In the extension of a trend that emerged last year, Mercedes has left almost all its car in its original carbon fibre weave to recoup precious grams of weight, leaving just enough matt black to keep the sponsors and TV cameras happy. It probably saved a few precious dollars too.
The launch was similarly pared back. Subdued but stylish, Mercedes is hoping to keep a low profile until it knows whether its near naked car will see it best dressed or caught with pants down by season’s end.
Don’t say: The last time the team used a black livery Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton to the championship in that Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Do say: Carbon fibre is the new black.
ALPINE A523
Livery: ★★☆☆☆
Star power: ★★★★★
Alpine is so pleased with ts 2023 car that it launched two of them: one in the traditional French blue and the other in sponsor-influenced pink. But such livery indecisiveness has led to neither being particularly memorable.
It also can’t be doing much for the boutique French automaker’s brand recognition, which you’d have to assume remains stubbornly low judging by the 25 minutes of ads for the little-known road-going A110 played before the launch broadcast started.
Indeed the biggest hype from the presentation came not from anything to do with the company or even the racing team but rather from the surprise appearance of French football icon Zinedine Zidane, who will be the team’s ambassador this year. Alpine says his insatiable desire to win will inspire the team. Ferrari mechanics would be well advised not to stir him up.
Don’t say: Marco Materazzi.
Do say: Jacques Doohan.
McLAREN MCL60
Livery: ★★★★☆
Diplomacy: ★★★★★
It turns out you can have too much of a good thing. The closer McLaren has got to finding the ideal orange hue for its cars, the less orange it’s given us. This year that’s truer than ever before, with Woking one of the other teams to realise the benefits of not bothering to paint most of the car. Still, at least it’s a unique and easily identifiable colour scheme.
Big points go to the launch team for a presentation that commemorated 60 years since Kiwi icon Bruce McLaren formed his eponymous team. While the company has existed in many different phases since and its modern-day supervillain-esque headquarters are a far cry from Bruce clipping off bits of bodywork with a pair of shears, the team’s origin story remains one of the sport’s great underrated pieces of history along with the achievements of Jack Brabham. Almost like Formula 1 has a bit of a British bias…
Don’t say: Daniel Ricciardo.
Do say: Oscar Piastri.
ALFA ROMEO C43
Livery: ★★★★★
Job titles: ★★☆☆☆
Alfa Romeo’s relatively brief modern stint in Formula 1 — even if it’s really just a sponsor, not a team owner — has had all the traditional hallmarks of the company’s iconic road cars: beautiful but unreliable. The C43 is no exception, at least on the count of the former. The latter remains to be seen.
The black-crimson Cherry Ripe-style combination of colours makes this the meanest looking car on the grid and a fitting way to end an era before Sauber transitions into the Volkswagen group of companies.
The 2023 launch was also the first public appearance of Alessandro Alunni Bravi in the vaguely titled ‘team representative’ role. With Frédéric Vasseur out and Andreas Seidl in as CEO to manage the Audi transition, managing director Alunni Bravi has been given the reins of the race team in all but title. Maybe it’s Swiss efficiency, but it feel s a lot like a precursor to massive change as Audi’s influence is brought to bear in the next few years.
Don’t say: Audi (yet).
Do say: Team representative is the new team principal.
ASTON MARTIN AMR23
Livery: ★★★★★
Sheer, unadulterated chutzpah: ★★★★★
If there’s one field in which Aston Martin leaves the entire F1 grid for dead, it’s sheer confidence, most of which emanates from audacious CEO Lawrence Stroll.
Some of his launch quote highlights include:
“This is a project we embarked on — I embarked on — a few years ago to create hopefully one of the greatest Formula 1 teams that will be.”
“We’ve added this incredible facility — nothing like it in Formula 1 today. It’s state of the art and doesn’t compare to anything else that exists … it’s a game changer.”
“When I get very passionate, I win.”
That’s confidence.
Even hiring the famously fiery Fernando Alonso is a bold move considering he lost patience with the competence of Alpine, which finished fully three places and 118 points ahead of Aston Martin last year.
But you can’t fault Lawrence Stroll and the team when it comes to commitment. Aston Martin is clearly all-in. It’ll be fun watching it pay off — or not.
The livery? It’s green.
Don’t say: Fernando Alonso has fallen out with almost every team principal he’s ever had.
Do say: “In Lance the team has a driver who is super young, super talented and has the possibility to be world champion.”
HAAS VF-23
Livery: ★★★★☆
Time efficiency: ★★★★★
Haas, the smallest team in Formula 1 with a reputation largely built on the back of charismatic team boss Guenther Steiner, knows it can’t compete with its larger rivals for launch firepower, so it played to its strengths.
It launched first, it didn’t pretend to be launching anything other than its new livery, and it continued going about its business. No time-wasting, no advertising, no celebrity MCs. It just got on with it.
The livery is understatedly good too. No need for patterns or gradients; it’s all block colours, simple lines and good contrast. It’s the kind of car you’d design if you were playing Motorsport Manager. Sometimes every team just needs to go back to basics, and Haas is proudly flying the flag for simple, proper motor racing.
Don’t say: Anything about licking. Or honey. Or the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Do say: This title sponsorship will definitely work out this time.
ALPHATAURI AT04
Livery: ★★★☆☆
Combined driver height: ★★☆☆☆
AlphaTauri came up with comfortably the most dramatic car launch of the season, complete with a video montage of a boxed-up car being helicoptered into New York City for a launch during fashion week. What a shame it was all for an old car — the Red Bull ownership clearly still runs deep.
The livery itself is a likeable enough two-tone navy-white situation, although he car is suspiciously well painted given the current trend of bare carbon fibre. If the white is fully retained, it’s at least guaranteed to stand out in the sea of black weave this season — and credit to the team, in that case, for reaching the weight limit.
Don’t say: Nyck Debris.
Do say: Nyck de Vries.
WILLIAMS FW45
Livery: ★★★☆☆
Accidental hype: ★★★★★
F1 fans have an almost irrational relationship with some sponsors, and Gulf, the defunct and reformed American oil company, is one of those brands.
Williams had snatched Gulf’s sponsorship dollars from McLaren this year, and in the lead-up to its livery launch there was much speculation that the car would be painted in homage to some of the famous Gulf-inspired motorsport liveries of seasons past, the most recent being the one-off McLaren Monaco livery from 2021.
But when the covers came off — yes, you guessed it, a 2022-spec car — at the launch presentation, there was a standard blue car with a set of small Gulf logos on it.
It pays for fans to keep expectations in check. There’s a reason retro liveries are sometimes foods, not for every day.
The team gets a bonus point for the continued incorporation of a Duracell battery around the roll hoop. Now there’s a sponsor livery we should get around.
Don’t say: What happened to the Gulf livery?
Do say: Blue is the new black.
